


8 Days- History

by shiptoomuch



Series: McKirkmas Countdown [2]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Cuddling, M/M, Sadness, Tarsus IV, jim gets bones an apple when he has a breakdown its a weird headcanon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-17
Updated: 2013-12-17
Packaged: 2018-01-04 22:29:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1086397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiptoomuch/pseuds/shiptoomuch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nyota, Gaila, Christine, Jim, and Leo sat by the fireplace in the boys’ apartment after a long day of sledding and last minute christmas shopping. The girls were all huddled together, whispering and occasionally shooting glances at Jim and Bones whilst smiling. Finally, they break apart and Gaila smiles sweetly at them. “So, everyone here knows about how you met and all that jazz except me. I feel the need to be included. So spill.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	8 Days- History

**Author's Note:**

> THIS WAS MEANT TO BE FLUFFY IM SO SORRY.

Nyota, Gaila, Christine, Jim, and Leo sat by the fireplace in the boys’ apartment after a long day of sledding and last minute christmas shopping. The girls were all huddled together, whispering and occasionally shooting glances at Jim and Bones whilst smiling. Finally, they break apart and Gaila smiles sweetly at them. “So, everyone here knows about how you met and all that jazz except me. I feel the need to be included. So spill.” 

Jim groans and looks to Leo, who just shrugs. “How much do you want to know?” He asks.

“Everything. I’ll stick to childhood for now, though.” Gaila rolls onto her stomach and cups her face in her hand. She crosses her ankles behind her and Nyota places a hand gently on her back with a small grin. “Did you guys really meet on Christmas?”

Jim giggles at his friend who’s acting more like a toddler than anything else at the moment. “Yeah. I was, what, six?”

“You were six. I was eight.” Leo comments. 

“Well, I was six and my Dad had just died, so I came out here to live with my grandparents for a while.” Jim looks a little sad while he tells the story, but he perks up. “So, it was Christmas and I was apparently feeling really upset about my dad, so I escaped out the window and jumped into the open window of the house next door.”

“My window.” Leo grumbles. “I always kept my window open because I loved Peter Pan as a kid. Then in came Jim.”

“Your very own Peter Pan.” Jim giggles.

“If by that you mean an immature idiot who’ll never grow up, yes.”

Jim pouts but when Gaila raises an eyebrow, he continues with the story, “Anyway, Bones was really shocked. He was dressed in these dumb skeleton pajamas, thus the nickname.”

Nyota and Christine both gasp. They never knew the actual origin of the nickname. The two had just shown up to school after winter break that year and suddenly the “cool” third grader Leo had a first grader attached to his hip calling him “Bones.”

“He ran down to tell his parents and they let me stay because they had talked to my grandparents and figured I needed some holiday cheer or something. From that day on, we were best friends.” Jim finishes simply and he takes Leo’s hand in his own. He never actually tells the story because everyone seems to know it.

Gaila squeals a little and claps her hands. “So you guys have been inseparable since then?” 

“No. Jim went back to Iowa for a few years, actually.” Leo’s face gets dark and he starts closing off. Jim leans into him and whispers something that seems to make him loosen up. “We only got Christmases for a while. Only had one year apart.”

“What happened that year?” Gaila asks innocently. “Why weren’t you together?” She looks between the men, both of whom have closed themselves off into their own little world.

“It’s kind of a sensitive subject, Gail. They don’t talk about it. Only people who were there know.” Nyota rubs circles onto her girlfriend’s back. “Sorry.”

Gaila nods sadly, obviously still curious as to what happened. “Okay. It’s cool.”

Jim, meanwhile, is holding the back of Leo’s neck, their foreheads pressed together. Suddenly it feels like the girls are intruding on a very very private moment. Nobody can move, though, even as Jim and Bones whisper to each other and Leo starts crying.

Jim gets up and goes to the kitchen. Leo turns his back on his friends, never having liked letting people see him crying. He doesn’t talk, just puts his head down and lets his chest shake a little with his tears. 

Jim comes back into the room with an apple, which he hands to Leo. “Bones. It’s okay. I’m okay.” He kneels next to Leo. “We’re okay.” He starts kissing along Leo’s neck softly.

Christine and Nyota stand to leave. Gaila follows suit, knowing that what’s happening is obviously something full of things she should never have unlocked. “Guys, I’m sorry. I didn’t think-”

“It’s fine.” Nyota stops her with a hand on the hip. “You didn’t know and it hardly ever gets like that. It’s just Christmas that’s hard to deal with for Leonard sometimes. He doesn’t like to remember.” She shrugs. “It happens. It’s not your fault.”

-

Jim lays with his head on Leo’s chest that night and he can’t help but hold onto him a little bit tighter than he normally would. He feels his boyfriend’s arms tighten too and he knows its okay tonight. “I almost forgot this year. Thirteen years and I almost forgot.” He whispers. 

"Thirteen years since you got out."

"Thirteen years since you found out I was dying."

"Thirteen years since you lived."

Jim shakes his head. "I'm sorry for tonight. I ruined a nice night with my dumb history."

“Don’t be sorry, kid. I’m the one who had a breakdown.” Leo responds with a slight grumble in his voice. “Honestly, it’s not your fault.”

“Yes it is.” Jim sighs. “If I had just fought a little bit harder to stay in Georgia, this never would have happened. If I had refused to go to that damn school. I should have refused to go to Tarsus and-”

“You were fourteen, Jim. Fourteen years old and you did better than anyone else could ever have dreamed.” 

Jim sits up and runs his hands through his hair nervously. He looks over at the clock. 11:33pm. He wills it to just go faster and let this day be over. “Thirteen years ago I was fourteen and I almost forgot those kids who were so much younger than me. Those kids that didn’t make it. How could I?” Jim screws up his face and wills himself not to cry.

Leo stares at him. Leo did tend to be a bit more vocal about his negative feelings, not afraid to cry sometimes, but Jim bottled it up and refused to even let it go in the cover of night with only Leo to hear his secrets. “Jim, please let me hold you. I can fix this.”

“How?”

“I can help you forget. You need to forget for once.”

**Author's Note:**

> feedback appreciated!  
> tumblr: fabtrek


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